1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus or device, a process cartridge and an image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus may be embodied as an electrophotographic copying machine, a laser beam printer, an LED printer, a word processor, a facsimile apparatus or the like.
2. Description of the Art
Conventionally, as a cleaning apparatus used with an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or the like, the arrangement as shown in FIG. 26 is already known.
In FIG. 26, a cleaning apparatus 7 has a cleaning container (toner containing container) 10 for containing toner. The Cleaning container 10 is provided with an opening 10a which faces a photosensitive drum. A cleaning blade 5 is attached to an upper edge portion of the cleaning container 10 above the opening 10a via a blade supporting metal plate 11 secured to the container by screws 15. A free edge of the cleaning blade 5 is urged against an outer periheral surface of the photosensitive drum along an axial direction of the drum, thereby removing the residual toner from the photosensitive drum.
Further, a seal member 6 is attached to a lower edge portion of the cleaning container 10 below the opening 10a, via an adhesive member 14. A free edge of the seal member 6 is urged against the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum along the axial direction of the drum, thereby collecting the toner removed from the photosensitive drum into the cleaning container 10.
In addition, end leak preventing members 12 are adhered to side edge portions of the cleaning container 10 on both sides of the opening 10a. Each end leak preventing member 12 is so designed that the side surface of this member is contacted with the side surface of the cleaning blade 5 having a minimum thickness of about 1-2 mm, and the undersurface of the seal member 6 having a thickness of 30-200 .mu.m is overlapped on the end leak preventing member 12 without a gap therebetween. Thus, the toner contained in the cleaning container 10 is prevented from leaking therefrom.
By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional cleaning apparatus, there arose a problem shown in FIGS. 27A and 27B. FIGS. 27A and 27B are sectional views taken along the line 27A--27A in FIG. 26, where FIG. 27A shows the end leak preventing member immediately after the cleaning apparatus is manufactured, and FIG. 27B shows the end leak preventing member after the cleaning apparatus has been used or left as it is for a long time.
More particularly, an end leak preventing member 12 is attached to the cleaning container in such a manner that the front surface of the end leak preventing member 12 protrudes with respect to the undersurface (surface contacted with the adhesive member 14) of the end leak preventing member 12 by height P so as to seal the gap between the photosensitive drum 1 and the cleaning container 10 to thereby prevent the leakage of the toner. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 27A, the end of the end leak preventing member 12 is compressed by the seal member 6, with the result that the reaction force F always acts on the seal member 6. Further, the adhesive member 14 such as a both-sided adhesive sheet has a relatively weak adhesion force regarding the resin of which the cleaning container 10 is made. Thus, in many cases, the reaction force F from the end leak preventing member 12 is greater than the adhesion force between the adhesive member 14 and the cleaning container, with the result that, after the cleaning apparatus has been used or left as it is for a long time, the adhesive member 14 as well as the seal member 6 is peeled from the cleaning container 10, thereby creating a gap 17 (FIG. 27B). As a result, it is feared that the toner collected in the cleaning container 10 leaks outwardly from the container through the gap 17.
Incidentally, FIG. 28 shows a condition that the adhesive member 14 and the seal member 6 are peeled from the container. The peeling starts from the end of the seal member 6 and progresses therefrom obliquely, so that the gap 17 is widened in a triangle pattern. The speed of the progress of the peeling depends upon the reaction force F of the end leak preventing member 12, and the term or period of the progress of the peeling often extends over a few days or a few months. If the gap 17 exceeds inwardly from an inner end Q of the end leak preventing member 12, the residual toner will leak from the container; and, even when the gap does not reach the inner end Q of the end leak preventing member, if the cleaning apparatus is subjected to any vibration, it is feared that the toner leaks from the cleaning apparatus.